Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th century. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological, and educational thought. Rousseau's novel Émile, or On Education is a treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. His sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise was of importance to the development of pre-romanticism and romanticism in fiction. Rousseau's autobiographical writings — his Confessions, which initiated the modern autobiography, and his Reveries of a Solitary Walker — exemplified the late 18th-century movement known as the Age of Sensibility, and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing. His Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. Tossup Questions # This philosopher argued that society's negative influence transformed a self-preserving "love of self" into a "love of pride." This philosopher presented the first man to fence off land as the origin of a three-part sequence by which society transitions from nature to the inequality between master and slave. This author of Discourse on Inequality argued in his most famous book that a sovereign must express the "general will" of the whole populace. For 10 points, name this philosopher whose Social Contract was considered a model for the French Revolution. # This thinker declared that one can train someone to be a good man or a good citizen, but not both. A work by him proposes the existence of a Lawgiver who inspires the conditions of a political society, but does not legislate any laws himself. This philosopher defined the power to act according to duty as "moral freedom". He called the first man who (*) fenced off a piece of land the founder of civil society, in a work explaining the origins of the desire to be better than others, which he called amour-propre. This author of Discourse on Inequality discussed the community's establishment of a "sovereign" to determine the "general will" of the people. For 10 points, name this Genevan philosopher of Emile, or On Education and The Social Contract. # This philosopher argued that man is distinguished from other animals by his "perfectibility" and discussed the ill effects of the progression from non-destructive to destructive modes of "self-love" in one work. That work by this philosopher describes the true founder of civil society as the first man to fence in a piece of land and proclaim, "this is mine." The most famous work of this author of Discourse on Inequality outlines a process in which humans give up their natural rights in favor of the general will, and begins with the line "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." For 10 points, name this Swiss philosopher who wrote The Social Contract. # This man, who traced the origin of civil society to the first man who fenced in a piece of land and said "this is mine," wrote Confessions and Reveries of a Solitary Walker. "The Creed of a Savoyard Priest" is a section in a treatise that follows the education of a young man. This author of a Discourse on Inequality and Emile wrote about the divine right of kings and the "general will" in a philosophical work that opens "man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." For 10 points, name this French Enlightenment philosopher who wrote The Social Contract. # This thinker wrote a work divided into ten "walks" during which he reflects on his life. A novel by this author sees St. Preux come back into the life of Julie d'Etange. This author posited that pity is the second motivational principle of the human soul. Another book by this author of Julie, or the New Heloise includes the character Sophia and claims that cultivating natural tendencies should be the goal of education. He distinguishes between the natural and political kinds of the title concept in Discourse on Inequality, writing that "Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains." For 10 points name this French enlightenment philosopher who wrote Emile and The Social Contract.